Via the Washington Post, the Associated Press reports that World War II Navy veteran, Melvin Dwork, has finally won his decades long fight: changing his “undesirable” discharge for being gay to “honorable”. The change is more than saving face, “he will now be eligible for the benefits he had long been denied, including medical care and a military burial.” This decision is hopefully only the first of many given that over 100,000 soldiers have been discharged since WWII and robbed of their honor and military benefits simply for being gay. “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” officially dies tomorrow, 9/20/11.

I can’t say it any better than Joel Burns: “It gets better.” You may be afraid but you are never alone. If you need someone to talk to please call The Trevor Project at: 866-4-U-TREVOR (866.488.7386)

Related posts

• 10/20/11 – Talk To Me – Kevin McHale for The Trevor Project
• 7/12/11 – Michele Bachmann: Pray the gay away
• 6/14/11 – For the health of sexual minority youth
• 6/12/11 – Prom queen Andrew Viveros – It Gets Better!
• 6/9/11 – The UCLA “Sissy Boy Experiment”
• 5/4/11 – Google commercial: It Gets Better!
• 4/13/10 – Update: ACP being called on their lies
• 4/6/10 – Fraudulent Representation of Medical Opinion by Fundie Quacks

On June 26, 2003, the U.S. Supreme court invalidated state sodomy laws in the landmark case, Lawrence v. Texas. With this ruling, it was no longer possible to minimize the “gay lifestyle” as an illegal one. Justice Scalia dissented, “Today’s opinion is the product of a Court… that has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda… It is clear from this that the Court has taken sides in the culture war…”

Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case. In the 6-3 ruling, the justices struck down the criminal prohibition of homosexual sodomy in Texas. The court had previously addressed the same issue in 1986 in Bowers v. Hardwick, but had upheld the challenged Georgia statute, not finding a constitutional protection of sexual privacy.

“Lawrence explicitly overruled Bowers, holding that it had viewed the liberty interest too narrowly. The majority held that intimate consensual sexual conduct was part of the liberty protected by substantive due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. Lawrence has the effect of invalidating similar laws throughout the United States that purport to criminalize homosexual activity between consenting adults acting in private. It may also invalidate laws against heterosexual sodomy based solely on morality concerns.

“The case attracted much public attention, and a large number of amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs were filed. Its outcome was celebrated by gay rights advocates, who hoped that further legal advances might result as a consequence. Conversely, it was lamented by social conservatives.”

The University of Saint Thomas is inviting Maggie Gallagher, President of the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM), and Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, one of the creators of California’s Proposition 8, to its campus on 4/17 to bring their campaign of discrimination to Minnesota.

Join Minnesotans in saying “No!” OutFront Minnesota, All God’s Children MCC, the Univ. of St. Thomas Allies, the Univ. of St. Thomas Law School OUT!Law, the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities, and the Institute for Welcoming Resources (a project of The Task Force) will be out in force to protest Proposition 8 and the discrimination NOM has been fighting for across the country. Wake up early and take part!

Details: Stop H8 – Support Love
Saturday, April 17, 2010
8:30am – 10:00am
University of Saint Thomas
Summit Ave & Cleveland Ave N
Saint Paul, MN